


Take It For A Spin

by bloodscout



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Food Franchise AU, Laura is alive, M/M, Motorbikes, Pyromania, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-24
Updated: 2012-10-24
Packaged: 2017-11-16 23:48:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/545167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodscout/pseuds/bloodscout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles is a manage of a fast food outlet and Derek is the new employee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take It For A Spin

‘Excuse me?’

‘FUCK!’

There was a crash of metal on tile as the frier hit the ground. Stiles threw his hands up, flicking them around as if that was an effective way get rid of the oil that was burning his skin.

‘Shit!’ he exclaimed again, rushing over to the basin and shoving his hand under a stream of water, hissing at the change in temperature.

‘Oh, God, oh-’ The dark-haired man said, unintelligibly. ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.’

Stiles sucked in a breath and switched off the water. ‘No, no, it’s fine.’ He said, but it sounded forced.

‘I’m Derek. It’s my first day today.’ Derek mumbled, staring at his feet.

‘I’m Stiles, the manager.’ he said, briefly holding his hand to his mouth.

Stiles looked up at the newcomer for the first time, and he was almost knocked over. Derek was… well, Derek was hot. He’d seen a photo with the resume - it was required for people with police history, acquitted or no - but something was lost in the impersonal set of his eyes, or the flash bouncing off his skin. In short, Derek was way hotter in person. Stiles had to keep his mouth shut, lest he drool all over his new employee’s shoes.

And, yes, there was a downfall - employee. As in, no dating. Damn.

He smiled brightly, and held out a hand. Derek replicated the action for a split second, but quickly pulled his hand back before their palms touched., like he was the one who had been burnt. Stiles was momentarily crestfallen, before he remembered that this was a business relationship, nothing more. Hell, Derek didn’t even have to like him. Who liked their manager anyway?

Just like he dealt with any other blow to his self esteem, Stiles started to babble

‘Yes, that’s right, Derek - Scott took you for the interview, didn’t he?’ Stiles didn’t give Derek a chance to answer, he just barrelled right on. ‘So, it’s up to me to show you around. It’s super cramped in here - we’ve basically just got the frier, the stoves and the ovens, and that’s all. There’s a tiny little staff bathroom up the back, but I don’t advise you use it, it keeps blocking up every few days, but that’s what you get when Jackson’s your cleaner, I suppose. I picked up your file the other day, just to check on you. The higher-ups were skeptical, thought it’d be bad PR - PR, do you need PR for fast food chains? Must do, everyone has PR nowdays. - but I said ‘Look, he’s not an actual arsonist, he was released’ and really, what kind of guy would kill-‘

Stiles stopped, because his brain had just caught up with his mouth.

Perhaps babbling was not the best course of action.

‘Look, we’re short staffed today.’ Stiles said tersely, like he was shutting verbal floodgates after each word he said. ‘Get Isaac to show you the secret menu and you can take the drive in.’ Stiles said, waving vaguely at a blond haired boy near the stoves, before he slunk off to his office and buried himself in paperwork.

Derek went over to the boy, Isaac, and introduced himself. Isaac seemed nice enough

He smiled softly, and his voice was quiet, calming. It gave Derek a sudden pang for his sister. It had been so long since he saw her. ‘Assuming you’ve met our manager?’ Isaac asked, the turn of his mouth betraying his amusement.

‘How did you know.’ Derek deadpanned, hoping sarcasm would hide the serious case of verbal whiplash he was suffering.

‘He has that effect on everyone,’ Isaac said fondly, gesturing to his forehead in a way that Derek assumed referenced his own scowl. ‘At first, anyway. He’s a pretty great guy, though. Grows on you.’

Derek nodded non-commitedly, just out of politeness to Isaac. He doubted Stiles would grow on him any time soon.

***

Derek wasn’t allowed near the stoves. He wasn’t a convicted arsonist anymore, but he was a diagnosed pyromaniac, and people were very wary of putting him near fire. He wasn’t even allowed candles on the birthday cake Laura had brought him last year. Essentially, in the work place, this meant that he was restricted to customer service and the frier.

It didn’t take Stiles long to work out how uncomfortable Derek working the counter made the customers, and it took him an even shorter amount of time to realise how uncomfortable it made Derek. On his second day, Stiles pulled Derek aside and asked him outright.

‘Would you rather not work the counters?’ he asked, trying to sound as sincere as possible.

Derek was silent for a while, like he was crafting the perfect response. ‘No, but I don’t need you to pander-‘

‘No, no, no,’ Stiles interrupted. ‘That first word is all I needed to hear. I’ll put you on the frier for now, and we’ll ease you into drive ins later.’ He smiled, and Derek felt himself mirror the action a little

Derek didn’t say anything, he just nodded, but inside, he was insanely grateful.

***

Derek only worked two Sundays a month, but it was his favourite day to work. He got paid time and a half, it was busy enough that he could just work the frier all shift, and Stiles was there all day, throwing jokes and good-natured insults around the work area. He always turned up early on Sundays.

Derek didn’t know when he’d begun to appreciate those.

At the end of his fourth Sunday shift, Stiles came up to Derek out the back of the restaurant, just as Derek was about to get on his motorbike. Derek had a new-found love for his motorbike - he never noticed how much he like riding it until he couldn’t do it anymore.

‘Hey, Derek,’ Stiles called out, and Derek tucked his helmet under his arm again.

‘Hi, Stiles.’ he said.

‘I noticed you’re early for your Sunday shifts - you happy to work those?’ Stiles asked, in a way that suggested that he already knew the answer.

‘Yeah, I do.’ Derek responded.

‘Okay, cool!’ Stiles said brightly. He gave Derek the thumbs up. ‘I’ll put you in for some more, the school kids hate working weekends anyway.’

Derek’s next shift is a Tuesday, and when Stiles hands him a new schedule, he’s not surprised to see that he has a shift every Sunday.

***

As it nears Christmas, the staff have a Kris Kringle. It’s a bit of fun, with a present cap of $20 so no-one spends too much. When Derek puts his hand in the hat, he draws Isaac’s name. Derek buys him a few bottles of apple cider, because Isaac seems like someone who would drink apple cider, and wraps them a few weeks early. He offers to take one of Isaac’s shifts so Isaac can go to a concert, scares off a particuarly angry and unreasonable customer when Isaac is working the register, and repays the kindness Isaac gave him when he first started.

Even though Isaac is meant to be his Kris Kringle, when a charity Santa hands him a candycane for his donation, when he gets to work, he gives it to Stiles.

***

Derek keeps finding sticky notes. Some of them are just smiley faces, or silly doodles, and others are jokes and little stories. At first, he thinks they aren’t meant for him, but they keep turning up around his work station and during his shift. When he finds one in the pocket of his motorcyle jacket that says “drive safe ;)”, he knows they’re for him.

***

The day to give their Kris Kringle presents arrives, and it turns out that Isaac is the kind of person to drink apple cider. Stiles gets a men’s grooming kit, much to his amusement - shampoo and conditioner do not mean much to him, with hair that short.

Stiles giver Derek a Harley Davidson patch for his jacket - “So you look like a real biker,” he says - and tells him to come see him after his shift.

***

Stiles is sweet, and nice, and funny, and caring, and Derek really, really doesn’t want to lose this job.

He waits outside for Stiles to arrive, and it’s a little cold. He’s got the patch slipped into his jacket pocket. He might send it up to Laura, get her to sew it on - Lord knows Derek couldn’t wield a needle if his life depended on it.

Stiles is fidgety when he meets Derek outside. His hands are shoved into his pockets and he bounces on the balls of his feet.

‘Derek, I-‘

‘Please don’t fire me.’ He blurts out. Stiles looks shocked, but says nothing, so Derek keeps going. ‘I need this job. You don’t understand, but I need it. Not just for money, I have money. I need it so I have a reason to get out of the house. I need it so I see real, living people. I need more than the ghosts of my family and an older sister three thousand miles away. I feel normal. There are people here who trust me not to burn down my apartment complex. You can’t take this job from me because I’m starting to remember what it’s like to have friends - Isaac asked if I wanted to go to a bar with him and Scott and Scott’s girlfriend this weekend. You can’t take it because I’m starting to like talking to Isaac, because he reminds me of my sister, because you remind me what it’s like to have something happening all the time. When I talk to you, it’s like they haven’t died, like I haven’t done anything wrong. You don’t judge and you understand, even when I don’t say anything and-‘

‘Derek.’ Stiles says quietly, reverently, and Derek shuts up. He lay a hand on the other man’s arm. ‘I’m not going to fire you.’

Derek takes a shaky breath, and pushes out ‘No?’

Derek has not said that much in five years. He has not spoken that much since the gavel hit the bench and he was taken away. The last time he said more than a sentence at a time was when he tried to tell the truth. When the jury didn’t believe him, when he saw Kate’s smug, self-satisfied grin at the end of her testimony, he gave up.

Stiles, of all people, had given him hope.

Derek didn’t know why, but he leans down until he is nose-to-nose with Stiles, and kisses him.

It is nothing like what he is used to. It is comfortable, like they are old friends, and Stiles is careful with him, like he is important.

Maybe he is.

Stiles breaks the kiss first, and he laughs a little. ‘I was going to do that.’ he says through a smile.

Derek nods, smiles, and leans down for another kiss. He can speak, now, but he does not need to.

‘Have you got an extra helmet for that bike of yours?’ Stiles asks, eyes wide with feigned innocence. He can’t hide the grin that threatens to take over his face. ‘I’d love to take it for a spin.’

 

**Author's Note:**

> In case you didn't get it, Derek was wrongly imprisoned for the Hale fire and Laura is still alive because I wish it to be so.


End file.
